In geography, an oasis (plural: oases) is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough. The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas. Caravans must travel via oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila, Ghadames and Kufra, situated in modern-day Libya, have at various times been vital to both North-South and East-West trade in the Sahara desert. The word oasis came into English via Greek ὄασις oasis, borrowed directly from Egyptian wḥ3t or Demotic wḥỉ. It was not borrowed from Coptic ouaḥe ( * /waħe/), as is sometimes suggested; the Greek word is attested several centuries before Coptic existed as a written language.
Oases are formed from underground rivers or aquifers such as the Artesian aquifer, where water can reach the surface naturally by pressure or by man made wells. Occasional brief thunderstorms provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases,such as the Tuat. Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets; or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to the surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds who also pass seeds with their droppings which will grow at the waters edge forming an oasis.
Oasis are an English rock band that formed in Manchester in 1991. The group was formed by Liam Gallagher (vocals), Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass) and Tony McCarroll (drums), who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar). Oasis have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and have had eight UK number one singles. The Gallagher brothers are the band's leading songwriters and the only continual members. The present lineup is completed by rhythm/lead guitarist Gem Archer and bass guitarist Andy Bell, rounded out by as-yet unofficial drummer Zak Starkey.
The band initially gained prominence performing on the Manchester club circuit. They were signed to independent record label Creation Records and afterwards released their debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994. The following year, the band recorded (What's the Story) Morning Glory? with their new drummer Alan White, whilst rivalling with Britpop peers Blur in the charts. The Gallagher brothers were featured regularly in tabloid newspapers for their sibling rivalry and wild lifestyles, cultivating reputations both as bad boys and as a band of the people. At the height of their fame, Oasis' third album, Be Here Now (1997), reached number one in the UK charts, number two in the U.S. and also became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, with almost half a million copies sold on the first day alone and with sales of just under 700,000 copies in its first week.
While recording their fourth album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants in 2000, Oasis lost two founding members and suffered a notable decline in popularity in America. The band added replacements Gem Archer and Andy Bell for Heathen Chemistry (2002), which was commercially successful and well-received among fans. In 2005, their sixth album Don't Believe the Truth with Zak Starkey, despite turbulent recording, became their best-selling and best-received album in a decade. The following year, the band released a compilation album entitled Stop the Clocks. In February 2007, Oasis received the BRIT Award for outstanding contribution to music. The band have finished working on their yet to be titled seventh studio album, which is tentatively due out in September 2008.
